I TEAM: firefighters under investigation for giving out Halloween candy on duty

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BROOK PARK, OH - The FOX 8 I TEAM has learned some suburban firefighters are under an internal investigation because they took a fire truck and more into the streets on Halloween and passed out candy.

It happened in Brook Park, and the mayor says a fire lieutenant who’d been supervising the shift has been suspended with pay as the investigation plays out.

When we told parents, they were left shaking their heads. Amanda Porch said, "And they were just coming down and they were stopping at every two or three houses passing out candy.
And then they just went on. I thought it was nice.”

We asked the Brook Park Mayor what could be the problem with passing out Halloween candy. Tom Coyne said, "Well, the problem is they took two-thirds of our firefighting equipment and went out trick or treating." He added, "I can think of no compelling reason that an officer in charge of a shift would take our emergency folks out, whose job is to protect this town, on a trick or treating expedition."

The firefighters took out a truck, another fire vehicle, and an ambulance when they went to pass out candy. They argue they were still ready to respond to calls. In fact, they even did respond to a call with an ambulance during trick or treating.

Union leaders already promise to fight any discipline handed out. Scott Maynor with the Northern Ohio Firefighters Association said, "They're able to multi-task and perform community service at the same time that they're on duty standing by for an emergency."

Oddly, this comes in a town where every year kids protest at City Hall as part of a civics lesson to get an extra half-hour to trick or treat.

Mayor Coyne says, "They could've given out candy at the fire house. They could've asked to use apparatus that wasn't in use on their own time to do such a thing."

Still, we found parents don’t seem to understand the uproar. Chryzal Sugapong said, “For I guess, an average person like me, I wouldn't even think twice about firefighters getting in trouble for something like that."

We’ll keep watching to see what, if anything, comes out of the investigation.